The blindest one is the one who thinks he can see
by Eilisande
Summary: Chirrut and Baze, it's a story that goes back to their ey've been together for so long that they no longer feel the need to scream it , when the other members of Rogue One do not seem to understand that they are very much married ... Well, it amuses Chirrut and it despairs Baze. Everyone would know if Cassian, Jyn and Bodhi were in tune with their emotions !


Traduction of one of my texts. Do not hesitate to comment or criticize !

-.-.-

**The blindest one is the one who thinks he can see**

The first time Baze and Chirrut are confused with brothers in arm, they don't realize. After all, they're about to be captured by Saw's rebels, then to die in Jedha's destruction, or to leave in a suicide mission on Scarif.

The first time it happens after Scarif, they do not notice either. The Rogue One survivors are all gathered in Yavin IV's rebels sickbay. They all watch with concern as a nurse removes the bandages on Baze's face. The result is far from pretty. The shrapnel gave him a face with scars of all size and form to remember Scarif. He lost an eye and his smile now stretch all the way to his left ear. His face was neither beautiful nor reassuring, but now, it's absolutely terrifying. Jyn, Cassian, Bodhi, they were soldiers, rebels, criminals. They saw many wounds but they can't hold back a grow of compassion. Sitting next to Baze, a hand on his shoulder, Chirrut stays impassible.  
"Well, he comments, I still find you beautiful."

"I was never beautiful, respond Baze as he watches his reflexion on the mirror given by a nurse."  
Chirrut makes a funny face and speaks with false anger.

"Did people lie to me? I wasted thirty years of my life with a man who's an eyesore?"

"If someone was fooled, it's me. Who would have thought that you would become even more unbearable on your old days?"

Those are old couple's jokes, but not one of their friends realize it. They just smile, amused by their friendship and their sarcastic dialogue.

"Have you known each other for thirty years?"

"No, we endure each other for thirty years, explain Chirrut. We've known each other for forty-seven years."

His explanation clarifies nothing. K2 lost interest in the conversation. As for Cassian, Bodhi, and Jyn, they frown, trying to understand the joke. Then the nurse asks a question and the conversation is all but forgotten. There are more important questions.

The next time it happens, Chirrut understands it. The only reason he's not bursting out laughing, it's because he needs to watch out for his fractured ribs.

They still are in the sick bay when it's happening. Rogue One was there for two weeks and, at last, the doctors are satisfied enough to let them go. Of course, they recite the complete list of usual recommendations. Continue to take your medicine. Change the bandages every day. Come back if you think there is an infection. And above all, avoid any acrobatic movement, do not reopen your wounds. Physical efforts are prohibited.

"Repeat that a little louder for Baze, hum Chirrut. He's unstoppable after a long visit to the hospital. I know he'll try to exhaust me."

Baze is so outraged he nearly chokes himself.

"The things you hear! You always try to be acrobatic, not me. I do not have the endurance of our young years."

"If I was you, I would not depreciate your endurance. Your performance was still very adequate last time. One of the nurses nearly chokes himself and must slips away, coughing. The other two are deep red, but the hints go so much above the heads of their teammates that they fly into the stratosphere."

Cassian frowns.

"It's important to train, he says with a severe voice to be sure of being well understood by both men, but they're right. A complete recovering is more important than trying to do too much and too fast. I'm sure we all can restrain our desires."

Chirrut appreciates the double meaning as an expert. This one is all the better because he is visibly involuntary.

"This one has no control", grumbles Baze who did not notice the blindness of his partners.

Chirrut noticed perfectly. He holds back his laugh and decides to let them believe what they want. It could be fun to see how many allusions will pass above their heads.

The third time, the blindness of the team is so big that Baze can't fail to notice. Rogue One was released from the sick bay late morning. The rest of the day, they try to become more familiar with the new rebel base. Fortunately, Cassian came a few times when it was installed and he guides them through the labyrinth of hallways and meeting rooms. However, their wounds quickly made them tired. Very soon, he proposes to guide them to their new rooms so that they can lie down. His proposal is greeted with moans of relief, even among the youngest members of the team.

"The base was never planned for so many people", explain Cassian as he directs them to their rooms. "We never anticipated we'll be forced to quit Yavin IV so soon after our installation. Until they dug or build other shelters, we'll have to tighten a little. I have only obtained two bedrooms and one of them was for an officer couple. I hate to ask that but... Baze, Chirrut, would you mind to share a bed?"

Baze is so stunned that he freezes on the spot and Bodhi nearly crash onto him.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I don't want to shock you. It's just that I do not see myself forcing Jyn to share her bed with one of us and as you are longtime friends ... I do not know enough about your order to know if I propose something unthinkable, sorry".

"Really Baze, don't be so prude !", exclaims Chirrut before turning to Cassian. "You would think that leaving the order and becoming a mercenary would have rid him of this problem, but no. I think we should be able to share a bed, no need to worry about that. Are we there?"

They are, in fact, in front of the bedroom. He is forced to push in the room the poor Baze, who is frozen, his eyes bulging. Chirrut carefully closes the door before he starts to laugh. His ribs hurt, but he doesn't care.

"They can't believe ... " despairs Baze. "Really, we've never been discreet in our affections! The mother superior summoned us when we were twelve years old to educate us on the subject. Twelve! She thought she couldn't prevent the inevitable. I will never forget this humiliation..."

"Obviously we've become more discreet with years if not wiser."

"It's worse than that. All of your indecent proposals passed above their heads. And Andor claims to be a spy?"

"I think they fight with bigger things and so they're blind to everything else.'  
"You don't say! What did Cassian say? I do not see myself forcing Jyn to share her bed with one of us? The girl would say yes twenty times if he had dared to propose!"

"Well, if the bed makes noise and the walls are too thin, they'll understand very soon what we are! What do you say, should we give it a try?"

Baze cannot resist Chirrut's indecent smile and join him on the bed. It squeaks under their weight. Walls must be thicker than they thought because no one says anything to them about their activities. The next day, Baze and Chirrut are too tired to think of correcting their comrade's mistake.

The next few times, Baze tries to opens his mouth to explain to Jyn, Cassian, Bodhi or K2 the truth. He wants to say that they've been married for thirty years, that ''friends'' or ''brothers at arm'' are not words that can describe them, Chirrut's staff systematically and violently lands on his feet.  
"Let them do", he mutters. "They amuse me"

As if Baze could resist any of his husband's requests. The next days, he let Chirrut drag him into discrete corners of the base to kiss him. They have always lived among people who know they are together. Baze must agree, the taste for secrecy that They have always lived among people who know they are together. Baze must agree, the taste for secrecy that Chirrut suddenly cultivates spice their relationship and makes his husband even more inventive.

Once, they are surprised by Bodhi who enters right behind them in a reserve. They suddenly feel ridiculous with their little game. Fortunately, they are still quite decent and just stand very close to each other. The pilot looks at them with an almost comical astonishment.

"What are you doing here ?", he asks. "It's where we keep X-wings spare parts."

"I knew we were lost", Chirrut exclaims happily.

"Oh. Were did you want to go?"

"I was looking for something to eat."

The double meaning is so big, even for Chirrut, that Baze let out a groan of horror. At least, Chirrut seems to be a little shameful. Bodhi, of course, does not notice anything and shows them the path to the mess. After that, they keep kiss and cuddles for the privacy of the room. They very carefully lock the door. They're too old to be surprised like young lovers. The fact that Bodhi almost gave them a cardiac arrest is also part of their decision.

Three days later, they enjoy a late drink in the cantina base, and Jyn collapses near them. She looks on edge.

"Is everything alright little sister?", Baze worries.

"Yes. No. It's Cassian."

"Do tell."

"It's just... I'd like to understand what we are to each other and what we want. It seems that every time one of us try to make a move, the other retreats. If I come close, he runs. If he tries something, I try to bite."

This is familiar. They remember a walled garden inside the monastery. Two children sat there, frightened by their feelings. It was a long time ago. Under the table, Baze and Chirrut's fingers brush against each other. They smile softly then Chirrut turns his attention back to Jyn.  
"You both have strong personalities. Because of your history, you don't know how to trust each other to build something together."

"I know that" sighs Jyn, taking her head in her hands. "I can see where the problem is, but not how to solve it."

The scene is more and more familiar to them. Baze and Chirrut look back to the time when, adults now, they meditated side by side in the same garden where they had quarrelled as children. Very often their meditation was interrupted by the more or less discreet arrival of a boy or a girl looking embarrassed. At first, the young people were walking around the subject. Then, they ended by pressing them with questions or by telling them their heartache. Without even realizing it, they had become adults and the children and teenagers of the temple were turning to them to understand their nascent sentiments. Over the years, they had become the confidants of a whole generation of young monks and nuns. Jyn is not the first to come for their wisdom and experience.

"Jyn", starts Baze before being interrupted by Jyn's embarrassed laughter.  
"I don't know why I'm telling you that. I should not bore you with our stories. I know it's parsecs from your experience. Enjoy your evening."

Before they have time to protest, Jyn empties his glass and left. Exasperated, Baze turns to Chirrut.  
"This is all your fault. You should have let me tell them the truth days ago."

"If I had known, of course, I would have told them," protests Chirrut, angry too. "But what kind of order do they think we belong to?"

"They saw you behave like a jedi, so they have come to believe that you are one. Fortunately, the Guardians were not as stuck as those."

"I would have made an awful jedi"

"You would have been kicked out of order even before you became a Padawan if you had behaved with their novices as you did with me," laughs Baze. "Such libertinage would not have pleased them."

"You were not better," sneers Chirrut, kissing him.

"You should stop drinking", interrupts the metallic voice of K2-SO passing behind them.

"Alcohol makes people do stupid things. It's disgusting and I haven't seen that."

He does not wait for an explanation and leaves. Baze chuckles, Chirrut laughs and they focus again on their drinks.

One week later, it's Cassian turn to question their love counsellors skills. He and Bodhi are busy making adjustments to the ship for their next mission. At their side, Baze is cleaning his weapons. Chirrut simply enjoys the last rays of sunshine.

"We like each other, very much so, but nothing's happening," Cassian complains to Bodhi. "It's my fault. We spent last evening yelling. I'm so afraid of spoiling everything between us that I'm making mistakes. The truth is, I do not dare ask her..."

"Ask her what ?"

"Her father. Can she ever forgive me? Will his ghost always be between us? I can't ask her that ..."

"No, you must", interrupts Baze. "If you can't talk about serious things, you can't form a strong couple."

"I don't want to scare her or hurt her. But you know Jyn, She will be at the other end of the galaxy before I've finish my first sentence."

"Believe me, a big problem always ends up reappearing when you're in a relationship", adds Chirrut. "It would be better to talk about that now. In the long run, you'll suffer less."

"Are you sure? I don't want to vex you, but it's not really your area of expertise, right ?"

This time, it's too much to take for Baze. He drops on the ground the pieces of the weapon he was working on and goes out, letting out a bunch of Jedhan swear words. Cassian and Bodhi look him leaving, astounded.

"What happened exactly ?"

Chirrut doesn't know if he must cry or laugh. He and Baze love to be the confidants of youth. That way, you know all the gossip. He will not be able to spend his life with Cassian and Jyn or Solo, Skywalker and Princess Organa without giving his opinion all the time. He had a naughty past, for Force's sake! He did not endure all these reprimands and penances for wantonness to pass for an ascetic in his old days. These crazy, blind young people will not take away their little pleasures away!

Two days pass and Rogue One find itself once again in one of the worst situations of his short life, which already has a lot of pretty bad moments. The contact of the rebellion was sold to the empire and they were chased and shot by stormtroopers determined not to let them go. They had to hide in the sewers for several hours before being able to come out again.  
The team finally managed to take refuge in a sort of secret hospital used by the local resistance. It lacks almost everything. No bacta, no bandages, nothing to operate on a wounded person. Cassian is forced to give Baze a cocktail of suspicious pills and alcohol to stun him enough to operate. Baze found himself too close to the explosion of a grenade and his arm was pierced with shrapnel.  
When finally the effect of the dangerous mixture begins to dissipate, Baze feels amazingly well.  
"I feel well," he says to Chirrut with a heavy voice.

"I see that."

Chirrut doesn't seem to believe him.

"I feel really well", he insists. "You have beautiful eyes. They're like the Jedha sky in summer."

"It's good to know."

Bodhi is choking on the other side of the bed. Baze does not care; he does not want to look away from Chirrut. He takes his hand.

"Have I ever tell you how beautiful you are? At least as beautiful as Jedha's sun. You're blinding."  
"To which sun should I compare you then since it was I who was blinded?"  
"We gave him too many drugs", moans Jyn. "I will never dare to look him again".  
Baze does not listen to her. He is too busy trying to catch Chirrut's face without letting go of his hand.  
"Do you remember the time when the mother superior saw us in the prayer hall? You make sure that she surprised us so that she agreed to marry us."

"I remember."

"You were naked on the offering table."

"I forgot this detail", confess Chirrut while deliberately ignoring Cassian's hiccup behind him.  
Baze sighs with nostalgia and closes his eyes. It only takes a few seconds for him to snore softly, leaving Chirrut alone to handle their friends. Baze may have been as subtle as Darth Vader in a rebel base, but the message has passed at least. Maybe these young people will listen to their advice now. But following them?

No, it's probably asking too much.


End file.
